


like strangers laugh, like subways feel

by recoilshipping



Series: entertainment value (shitty teen movie AU) [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24486484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/recoilshipping/pseuds/recoilshipping
Summary: silly conversations in the back corner of the school library.
Relationships: Homura Takeru/Revolver | Kougami Ryouken, Kusanagi Jin/Spectre
Series: entertainment value (shitty teen movie AU) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1558684
Comments: 3
Kudos: 2





	like strangers laugh, like subways feel

**Author's Note:**

> the other ships in this series get brought up towards the end (chatshipping, zinniashipping)

The bundle of pamphlets and brochures shifts in Spectre's arms as he walks through the rows of bookshelves. Den City High School's library is typically quiet after the last bell ends the school day, so he slows in his approach of his usual table in the back corner when he hears two voices engaged in an animated discussion.

"-'s interning at the studio where Yusaku films 'Link Vrains' and Aoi records songs as Blue Angel. But his dream job? Running his own food truck."

"What would he even cook?"

"Who knows, man."

There's a loud burst of laughter after that. And the ever vigilant librarian with her cart is conveniently within earshot. Upon hearing the creaky wheels start to turn in his direction, Spectre ducks into one of the aisles and stares very intently at the book spines as she shushes and scolds the conversationalists. They apologize for the noise, but she only gives them an exasperated "Hmph." before walking past where Spectre is hiding. She pauses for a breif second, and Spectre can tell that she wants to complain about his friend's new behaviour to him. But he just keeps staring at the book spines, and she continues on her way.

The other two resume their conversation, but Spectre can no longer parse out what they are saying. Hearing their quiet murmurs and imagining them leisurely enjoying each other's presence on the other side of the shelf almost makes him lose heart, and he debates with himself whether or not to just leave. It's no big deal if he flakes out, right? It's not like _he_ will notice, not when he's talking to _him_.

...But he can't. He left his backpack at that table. Can't go home without that.

After a few minutes, there's the sound of a chair scraping the floor. The talking stops completely and is replaced by silence. Maybe the two of them stepped out for a second? That might give Spectre enough time to grab his backpack and leave. Stepping out of the aisle, he quickly makes his way towards the back corner table.

Upon reaching it, he sees Jin hovering near Takeru, holding a tissue up to Takeru's face, helping him dry his eyes, red from crying.

Takeru spots him first, and at the sight of him Takeru freezes up like a deer in the headlights. Jin looks up to see him too, and Spectre can't help the feeling of dread piling in his stomach.

"There you are! I was starting to worry that something happened to you." Jin says that in a chipper tone and smiles at him, which is odd considering the tears still staining their underclassman's cheeks, but Spectre doesn't mind.

"My apologies. It took me more time to gather these up than I thought it would." Spectre lets the pamphlets and brochures down onto the table, where they join another few stacks of like papers.

Takeru's hands reach out to grab one, but he retracts his hand as if suddenly remembering something. "Uh, can I look?" he asks first, trying to match his gaze to Spectre's. He ends up averting his eyes, but Spectre gives him points for trying. "Go ahead."

Takeru takes a pamphlet and starts leafing though it. Jin sits back down and motions for Spectre to be seated as well. Reluctantly, he goes to sit in the same chair he was sitting in before. Right next to Jin.

"Thanks again for sharing all of these. I know you didn't want to deal with college application stress anymore than you had to."

"It's fine. It's all clutter to me now anyway. I'm glad someone can make use of it."

Takeru exchanges one pamphlet for another one from the pile. He seems to have calmed down a bit now.

"You see? It's not so bad." Jin tries to reassure him. "Spectre's done it, I'm doing it, and you'll get through it too."

"What have I done?"

"Applied for college."

"Ah."

"Yeah." Jin gives Takeru a pat on the back. "Our wittle sophomore friend here is just a lonely baby overwhelmed by college prospects."

_"_ _Oh thank god,"_ Spectre thinks to himself, _"it's just that."_ Suddenly Takeru's tears make more sense.

Jin leans back and stretches in his chair. "I think even Ryoken had trouble with the process."

Merely mentioning the senior's name immediately causes Takeru's mood to sour. "Ugh, as if Mr. Perfect ever had trouble with anything in his life." he says bitterly.

"What's with the nickname? Is he still bothering you?" Jin asks.

"Yeah, 'bothering'." Spectre snorts.

Takeru shoots him a nasty glare. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing at all."

"But I swear, it's true. Tell him, Spectre."

"There's not much to tell. He's smart and his grades show it, he has money and is still offered plenty of scholarships-"

Takeru groans and his head plops onto the table.

Jin inhales sharply.

"Oh, except for sports. Anything sports related is so not his forte. I've been in the same class as him since I skipped a grade in elementary school, and he's never had an easy time with athletics."

"And if I remember correctly, he stressed out a lot about where he wanted to go." Jin adds.

"Obviously. That's why we did so many visits to different campuses and collected so many brochures. He ended up keeping more of them than I did. I think at least half of these here are his."

Takeru throws the pamphlet he's been holding down in disgust.

"But as Jin said before, we're done with the process already. It's waiting for the results that has been absolutely agonizing for him."

"And what about you? Are you still agonizing over it?"

Jin's question takes Spectre by surprise, and he has to think about it for a moment before making a response. "...Not as much as I was before."

The muffled sound of a phone buzzing draws their attention.

"Shit, that's mine." Takeru reaches into his pocket and fumbles to silence his phone. Seeing the time across the screen, he stands and grabs his backpack.

"Gotta go?" Jin frowns.

"Yeah, curfew. Thanks for letting me sit at your study table."

Jin shakes his head no. "Spectre's study table." he clarifies.

"Ack, sorry. Spectre's table. Thank you Spectre. Goodbye, see you two tomorrow." With a quick wave, he takes his leave.

Once Takeru is out of earshot, Spectre rolls his eyes. "It is not my table. It's just a table."

"But it's like, been your spot in the library since your freshman year. Everyone usually meets up with you either here or at your locker. Yusaku, Aoi, Ryoken, me-"

"Because it's convenient. You met up with Takeru here just now, didn't you?"

"He was exploring. He's still getting used to the layout around here, and he'd never been in the library before."

"Don't tell me you actually believe that. He may act like any old doe-eyed transfer student, but I swear..."

"Doe-eyed transfer- ...oh, I get it." Jin crosses his arms and nods.

"Get what?"

"Aww, you were jealous." Jin looks to him with a knowing smile. "Does this mean you like me too?" :3

Spectre can feel his heart pounding in his ears. "Can it."

"Okay, okay." he relents.

"Or..." Spectre feels a grin start to form, "I could tell Ryoken about how you made his precious Takeru cry."

Jin's smile fades and the colour drains from his face a bit. "Please don't. I like being alive."

"I'll think about it."

"He's still mad about that scene Topologic Gumblar and Armatos caused in the dog park that one time. I don't need him to be upset at me for something else."

"That? He got over that ages ago. You don't need to fear for your life over it."

"You sure?"

"Undoubtedly. Topologic Gumblar doesn't get along well with any other dog at first. He didn't even like Firewall."

"No way, not Firewall. Yusaku's dog is so friendly."

"And it still took most of our summer vacations as kids to teach them how to stand each other."

Jin blinks at that. "Wait. You knew Yusaku as a kid?"

"I-, yes?" Spectre thought either Yusaku or Ryoken would've told this story already to Jin already.

"I didn't know that how much our friend group went that far back. I thought most of us met in high school, and it was just you and Ryoken that knew each other since elementary school."

"Mm. It feels like forever ago that I met Yusaku and Ryoken."

"And soon we'll all be off to make our own futures as adults, college adventures." Jin says wistfully. Is it content in his eyes, or sadness?

"And you called Takeru a baby. Are you sure it isn't you who's lonely?"

Jin shakes his head. "No. Because I know that putting distance between all of us won't drive us apart. We're all gonna be in each other's lives for a long time coming. At least, that's the future I see. We've just begun to become a part of each other's lives."

"Oh that reminds me. This morning Ryoken was showing me the wedding pinterest board he made for him and Takeru."

"That is rich." Jin wheezes. "Show me." He retrieves his laptop from his backpack, and then Spectre opens the pinterest board. They take turns scrolling through the pictures, critiquing Ryoken's taste the entire time. Altars, flower arrangements, colours, etc...

"What's with the fonts?" Jin says as they browse through a section filled with handwriting samples.

"For the invitations."

"Did he just repost photos already tagged 'wedding'?"

"Yes he did." Spectre and Jin hold back a giggle. "He's off to a great start. His crush is too dense to figure out his feelings, and he's acting like he's already proposed. He hasn't even PROMposed yet!"

They run out of pictures more quickly than they care to. It's to be expected, since Ryoken only started the board yesterday.

Jin closes the tab with a sigh. "Aw man, I wish I could show you Aoi and Miyu's beach house pinterest. It's the cutest thing."

"Beach house? Sounds lovely."

"It is! Those girls really know their aesthetic. But I don't remember what it is." He looks as if he's racking his brains a second, trying to remember it. "Wanna look at Naoki's Playmaker fanblog instead?"

Spectre declines. Yusaku has already shown him it. And as it turns out, Naoki stopped updating it once he started dating Yusaku. Yusaku hadn't minded him continuing it, but he stopped anyway. In fact, it only hasn't been deleted yet at Yusaku's request. Besides, they'd be at it for hours. There's a lot of content on that blog.

"It seems all our friends are in relationships." Spectre comments as he organizes the piles of brochures littering the table.

"Or crushing."

Spectre huffs in exasperation. "Yes, or crushing."

"Or Takeru."

"Give him time. But back to my original point. Do you think they'll all stay together?"

_"Did you only confess to me because you didn't want to be left out? Because you were lonely?,"_ is what he wants to ask. _"Do you really love me?"_

Jin is silent, then pensive, as if he suspects the true question. But he gently smiles. "Of course I do. Like I said before, we've all just begun to be a part of each other's lives." His smile widens into a grin. "In fact, I think we'll be invited to all their weddings sooner or later. It's just a matter of whose first. My bet's on Aoi and Miyu."

Spectre can't help but smile back at him. "Oh, but what of Ryoken's pinterest? Did you forget about that?"

Jin laughs. "I did not. I just figured in that Takeru still doesn't know that Ryoken loves him yet."

"I think he's just playing hard to get. They even have nicknames for each other. Those two are beyond ridiculous."

"'Mr. Perfect,' 'my favourite transfer student,' I guess I can see it..." Jin props his elbow onto the table and lets his chin rest in the palm of his hand. "Or maybe it'll be a dark horse and we'll get married first."

"Oh please." Spectre scoffs. "Keep dreaming."

"I will."

**Author's Note:**

> title reference [ brother by gerard way](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KooDgiK41Fw)
> 
> plotting this fic out: ah yes interconnect the stories this makes perfect sense   
> writing and editing this fic: oh no


End file.
